Lorrie Durkin (1935-2019)
Dolores “Lorrie” Durkin, 83, a longtime Beacon resident, died March 31, 2019, at her home.
She was born Dec. 29, 1935, in Plainfield, New Jersey, the daughter of Harold and Mary (Cahill) Blume.
Lorrie was a registered nurse. She received a bachelor’s degree from Keuka College and also earned a master’s degree. During college, she met John Smyth Durkin. They were married on April 12, 1959, at the Church of the Holy Cross in North Plainfield. He died in 1971.
Lorrie started her career as a public health nurse and later worked at Mount St. Mary College and for 20 years at Rombout Junior High School until her retirement. She was a longtime member of the Beacon Historical Society and St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and also belonged to the Mount Gulian Historic Site. She enjoyed sewing, quilting and gardening.
She is survived by her son, John Durkin (Alison) of Hopewell Junction, and three grandchildren: Taylor, Payton and Carson. She is also survived by three nieces, Marcia Clarke, Dana Miller and Lesley Lauer.
A funeral service was held April 4 at Libby Funeral Home in Beacon, followed by interment in the Fishkill Rural Cemetery.
Yvonne Nevius (1940-2019)
Yvonne “Sissy” Nevius, 78 of Fayetteville, Georgia, died March 28, 2019 at Amicasa Hospice Home Care in Decatur, Georgia.
Sissy was born Oct. 14, 1940, in Beacon, the second of four children of Frank Johnson and Jeanette Marie (Harris) Johnson. She attended Beacon schools and Mercy College. Before her move five years ago to Georgia, she was a member of the Springfield Baptist Church.
She worked for 33 years for the Beacon City School District and at Astor Head Start until her retirement in 2003. She loved teaching and was said to have taught half the children in Beacon, in addition to their children and grandchildren. She also loved to sew and cook — she was well known for her sweet potato pies.
Sissy is survived by her husband, Harold Nevius, and her five children: Veronica Eggleston of Irving, Texas; Harold Wade (Pam) of Beacon; Dwayne Wade (Denise) of Albany; Sandra Mitchell (Sharif) of Fayetteville; and Sonia Bellamy (Tarrence) of Covington, Georgia; along with 20 grandchildren, 13 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandsons.
She also is survived by Lorraine Townsend, who considered Yvonne as a second mother; her sister, Yvette Wade of Beacon; two brothers, Frank Johnson of Pennsylvania and Pete Johnson of Newburgh; four sisters-in-law: Delores Foxx of North Carolina; Irene Murdock of New Brunswick, New Jersey; Denise Wade of Elizabeth, New Jersey; and Gerald Wade of Bound Brook, New Jersey.
A funeral service was held April 5 at Springfield Baptist Church, followed by interment at Fishkill Rural Cemetery.
Charlie Young (1934-2019)
Charles H. “Charlie” Young, 85, of Poughkeepsie, died March 28, 2019, at Vassar Brothers Medical Center.
Born on Jan. 15, 1934, in Elizabeth, New Jersey, he was the son of Charles and Grace (Mingle) Young. On Aug. 4, 1956, he married Dorothy Korzeb, who died in 2013. The couple moved to Poughkeepsie in 1958.
Charlie served in the U.S. Army in the rocket fuel research laboratory established by Wernher von Braun, the German rocket expert who started the U.S. space program. After graduating from Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, with a degree in chemistry, Charlie joined the Texaco Research Center in Glenham, where he worked for 39 years.
He is survived by his sons: Gregory Young (Patricia) of York, Pennsylvania, and Ronald Young (Cora McEnroe) of Hopewell Junction, and his grandchildren: Joseph, Jack, Aoife and Frankie Young.
A funeral service was held on April 2 at the William G. Miller & Son Funeral Home in Poughkeepsie, followed by interment at Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery. Memorial donations may be made to Friends of Poughkeepsie Rural Cemetery, 342 South Road, Poughkeepsie, NY 12602.
